1. Scope of Invention
This invention relates generally to walkers used by handicapped individuals and those weakened or recovering from injury and particularly to a glide connectable onto the lower leg of a walker for improved performance and stability.
2. Prior Art
Walkers are well known products available for the permanently handicapped and those individuals weakened or recovering from injury particularly to lower limbs. Used in lieu of crutches, canes or other ambulatory aids, a walker provides considerably more stability for the individual by providing four spaced apart legs in a rectangular pattern for inherent upright stability and tip resistance.
In using a walker, the individual grasps upper horizontal side handles or support members of the walker to receive leaning support during each stride or step taken. In between each stride, the individual then lifts the walker from the floor, ground or support surface or simply removes body weight sufficiently to slide or move the walker forward or rearward in preparation for the next stride taken.
Conventional walkers are manufactured with rubber or plastic caps fitted onto the lower ends of each leg. The legs themselves are typically manufactured from aluminum tube for strength and lightness. These caps provide wear resistance while minimizing scratching and wearing of the support surface and further, when made of an anti-skid material such as rubber, increase the stability provided by the walker during each stride and while being supporting a stationary user.
Ideally, the ease with which an individual utilizes the walker is enhanced where resistance to forward movement or drag in between each stride is minimized. To accomplish this, prior art discloses an alternative to the caps in the form of wheels positioned onto the lower ends of either or both forward and rear legs of walkers. Typically, when forward wheels are utilized, they are mounted on rigid axles for rolling movement only. Alternately, when positioned at the lower ends of the rear legs, the wheels may either be fixed for rotation only or also allowed to turn about an upright axis for turning maneuvers.
Generally, lateral movement of the walker during use is undesirable as it typically represents movement which decreases the overall stability of the individual using the walker. Thus, caps provided at the lower ends of the legs, while perhaps providing some increase in lateral drag, provide that same increase in forward drag, an undesirable result. Likewise, rear wheels in lieu of caps which turn or pivot about an upright axis, while increasing maneuverability, also decrease lateral stability.
A prior invention disclosed in our previous U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,213 provides a stationary glide fitable onto the lower ends of preferably the rear legs of a walker which substantially reduces forward drag or resistance to forward movement while substantially increasing the lateral stability or side-to-side resistance to movement. However, substantial frictional engagement with the support substrate atop which the walker is used has resulted in accelerated wear of the beneficial elongated downwardly disposed fins of this device.
The D.M.D. Co./Cares R U.S. Limited of Wheeling, Ill. is now distributing a product called a MUSHROOM GLIDE which is advertised to improve safety and maneuverability of an existing walker. This device appears to be intended to fit into the lower ends of the rear legs of the walker and presents an arcuate lower ground-engaging surface which is generally uprightly oriented to the ground-engaging surface and does not include any moving parts, rather depending entirely upon friction engagement with the ground-engaging surface. Uneven and only partial wear of this device will likely result in a very short wear life.